High Voltage! Punkin' Out!
High Voltage! Punkin' Out! Enter the Knight of Chivalry Zachary Quincy has finally arrived. Japan was such a distance from the base of operations he was used to being in. Having been a native of the West for so long he hoped what little he accumulated of culture and language of Japan helped him be prepared for the jump internationally. As much as he's always wanted to explore the East for all of its wonders, mystical intrigues and beautiful landscapes he had come with a purpose. To seek out a Protégé! He had been a seasoned Pro Hero of the Eastern Seaboard for quite some time and he had been deigned an appropriate amount of time away from his usual duties to go abroad. It wouldn't be for too long, but long enough for him to acquire a discipline and become acquainted till he can take back the student to have them earn credit working at his side. It would be, at its lowest form, an easy way for a student of any Hero based academy to get ahead in their life and establish a prestigious career; at the highest, it'd put their names out on the map for all to see and admire. In all honesty, he was perhaps a bit giddy at the prospect of picking up a well meaning and impressionable lad or lady to take under his wing. He always had a soft spot for the children, and sought to make the world safer for them so they in turn could make it safe for each other and their eventual children. There was a merit to this mutual aid circle that'd spread around and benefit the world in the long run, so long as there was a Hero like himself that existed, hope could spur good will and love to others around him. Affixed with a dream-filled smile, he found himself himself cuffed on the back of the head, causing his eyes to bulge and his head to jolt forward. "Hey! Get moving!" The flight attendant jeered out, her fish-lipped fast skewed in a manner that was both intimidating and unsightly. "The other passengers have already left fifteen minutes ago!" "O-Oh really?! I-I'm terribly sorry," Zachary apologized in clumsy japanese. Reaching around for the Pro Hero ordained brief case, the man was dressed in a sleeveless blue parka with a golden shirt that had the words 'Believe it!' enamored over his chest. His blue jeans and his brown leather shoes stood out from the others that had arrived, as well as the backpack he slung over his shoulder with the case he held in his other hand. Bowing his head apologetically, he grinned sloppily at her as she rolled her eyes and ushered him to follow her. The blonde haired, blue eyed man couldn't help but look around himself with wide eyed wonder as he left the airport and into the thick of the city. Musutafu was the largest of the Shizuoka prefecture, and it certainly showed. There was an eclectic number of people walking on and around the streets at all times, every one of them having a time reading, looking at a mobile device or interacting with some small child adjacent to them. It was a thrilling experience to be sure! But, just as he was enjoying the scenery, was when a proximate thuum! shook the city block. His senses, acutely honed for this kind of situation, detected kinetic disturbances nearly three hundred meters away Northeast. Wide eyes narrowed as he looked in that exact direction, his eyes looking towards the place where most of the startled or only somewhat bothered passerbiers ignored. Strangely enough, there was what looked like the outline a person, smashed into the side of a what he assumed was a screen projecting billboard. The imagers were frayed, a smatter of incoherent colors and lines from the spiderwebbed impact. The individual spreadeagled into it was too far away for him to make out, but the sight of another entity rocketing over it was more defined; and he recognized the color palatte of what he assumed was a flight suit. "A Hero!" He mentally proclaimed, a smile raising up on his face as he saw it, just as some more attentive people caught attention and gestured in that direction as well. He turned to someone pulling out a smart device, recording the footage, and looked to the boy with green hair and asked. "Hey, can you tell me who that is?! I'm new here!" "O-Oh, sure!" He excitably said, his smile brighter than he could almost stand. "That Hero is Skyward, the Flight Hero! He uses his Quirk to control the air to propel himself across vast distances in a handful of seconds and stop falling debris with just a wave of his hand! He also has a really cool suit that helps him fight with his hands while controlling his Quirk; he's really amazing!" "He certainly does!" Zachary exclaimed with a toothy grin, turning his attention back to the scene unfolding from a distance. Farther away, it looked like the hero in the suit was engaging in either interrogation or some kind of bravado. He couldn't be sure but it looked almost intimately intense in how he couldn't tell what was being spoken. Just when he thought this situation was done and over, the sparking lights turned into a crescendo of tendrils of electricity, the whole of the sign bursting in shorting circuits while the man seemed to be engulfed in a halo of lightning. Before anyone could tell what was going on, the man smashed against the sign was freed and he caught the Pro by his face before catapulting himself with the grappled Hero to smash into the face of a nearby smart device shop. The blast sent a hail of shrapnel, glass and disturbed air in a shockwave towards the others. While the boy looked like he was going to act, it was time for him to gape as Zachary moved ahead. With a clap of his hands towards the forward space, the whole of the shockwave ceased, and the projectiles of glass and cement suspended in the air. When he exhaled and released his hold over the kinetic event, the matter fell to the ground and everyone that was brought to heel were relieved for the moment. "Wow! That was amazing!" The young man declared with gusto. "Yeah, you think so?" Zachary turned to grin at him. "You might need to stand back. I'm going to have to get involved after all." "Uh, a-are you sure?" He asked, almost dubious as to his intentions of taking on the man who hurled the Pro Hero so casually. "Of course," He declared with a grin as he clicked the handle to his suitcase. From its interior, he pulled out what was a sword handle of immaculate embroidery of blue and gold hues. The metal piece shined in the Sun as he pulled out, right before he clicked a button and a sword extended from its folded state within the hilt to a broad four feet of double-bladed length. He finished explaining as he took steps forward, sword in hand, as he walked ahead with smiling confidence and a blue fire alight in his eyes. "I'm a Pro Hero, after all." ---- Kaede Arashi hated getting up early on a day off. She woke to the sound of her phone’s alarm blaring, jarring her out of the dream she was having. Even though it was a Sunday, she couldn’t afford to sleep in; there was so much to do, regardless of how comfortable and inviting her bed was. Brown eyes peered out from the mess of likewise hued hair to see the time, 7:45 AM, right on cue. She let out an annoyed growl and jammed a finger on the off icon to silence the offending sound. A resigned sigh broke through as she kicked the covers off and stood up, stretching. After giving herself a few moments to fully wake up, she neatly made her bed and grabbed her clothes for the day; a black shirt and matching shorts before heading to the bathroom and starting a warm shower. After getting cleaned up and dressed, she finally felt ready to face the day. Nobody was around to bother her as she went around her morning routines, not that she expected anything else, it wasn't like anyone would be around. "Wonder if he even came home last night..." she said before shaking her head in anger. "Tch, why should I care?" she asked herself as she went downstairs. She found it odd that the TV was on, indicating that her father must have been home at some point after all. "Doesn't even have the common sense to turn off the damn thing." she thought as she pressed the power button on the remote. After a quick breakfast consisting of leftovers from dinner the night before, she was out the door, grabbing a baseball cap to keep the sun out of her eyes, her MP3 player and a pair of blue headphones. She started blasting her favorite songs, blocking out the world around her with the sound. The next few hours were lost in a blur as she went around the city, checking out various stores, looking for ideas for a birthday gift for one of her uncles. Eventually, only one store remained on her list of places to visit, a certain electronics store. Unfortunately for her, there was a villain causing havoc around it. As she neared, she saw the chaos unfolding. By the time she arrived. She fought her way through the panicked crowd, she could see the villain shoving the hero, she couldn’t tell who with all the motion, into the storefront, sending a shockwave and shrapnel soaring into the crowd. Human nature overruled her mind and for a brief second she flinched, expecting injury to follow. However, nothing happened and when she looked, she could see everything had frozen in place. “Wh-what kind of Quirk…” she muttered out loud, still in shock. She saw someone going in, armed with only a sword. The sight sparked something in Kaede. “If that idiot’s going in with just a sword...I shouldn’t be out here playing a coward.” she decided. Without giving it another thought, she ran in after the man, figuring she could at least do something. It wasn’t for nothing she got her license after all, she had to act. And she would act. "This is nice!" A voice grated out, something warped and grinding through what someone could assume was vocal cords. The lanky body that was sent into the billboard earlier was the Villain both Kaede and Zachary were noticing, as many of the customers fled amidst the impact into the middle of what was an electronic convenience store. The impact site where he was straddling Skyward was nearly five meters deep, and the flickering lights overhead only gave his silhouette impression a more chilling appearance. "Y-You fiend! Unhand me-!" "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," He placated in a sinister tone, his palm seeming to embed into the warped faceplate and merge with its plating, into its circuitry. "Hmmmmm. This is a more advanced version of the last flight suit I assimilated. Functions that seem to enable jet propulsion; no engines though. All for your Quirk? It's unfortunate how useless you are to me now." "I won't allow...it..,wait. Why can't I move?!" "I'm in complete control of your suit. It's pretty neat, right?" A hidden smile stretched over patchwork metal plates that made up his human-shaped visage, revealing motorized drills for teeth and a ripcord for a tongue. "Don't worry. I'll try not to eat your fleshy bits; I'll make sure to spit that organic crap out!" "Y-You monster-!" The suited hero exclaimed, watching him leer over with its fluid dripping mouth and stretching out to clamp over his armored neck; intent on biting through. But, instead of a grinding chomp, it came out as a soft ping; even the motion of his pistons and the spinning of his teeth ceased. His eyes widened as he pulled back, realizing that he could 'feel' something was wrong. Then, as if it just occurred to him, his head turned around to see a man with a parka, wielding what he could make out was a compact sword in its unfolded state. He was just standing there, sword's tip planted into the ground and the blonde, blue eyed man smiling with an intimidating air about his cheerful disposition aimed towards him. "Hello there, Villain," Zachary greeted in japanese, showing the whites of his teeth as he squinted his eyes with his smile towards him. "I see you're attempting murder, along with property damage, vandalism and disturbing the peace. Are there any other crimes you'd like to confess before I turn you over to the authorities?" "You...you're new!" He ground his teeth as best as he could under this slowed state he was put under. His mind worked quickly, coming up with many a strategem but couldn't perceive any working in this current state. Then, his eyes spun in dilation till they glowed a bright scarlet hue. Rearing his head back, he'd howl out with a voice akin to a blaring speaker. "I DON'T LIKE NEW PROBLEMS!!! The Pro's eyes widened and his smile evaporated at the sight of what was an instantly launched attack. In a surprising twist of momentum, he avoided the attack as twin bolts of light spiraled without the momentum but continued to be just as deadly through touch. Piercing through the wall it'd impale through several layers of structure before exiting on the other side of an intersection, slamming into a car's engine and causing it to explode not too far away. The kinetic disturbance was enough to make him lose focus, realizing he had allowed the Villain harm others during his engagement. During his turn of the head, the full pressure of slowed momentum had ceased; allowing the pscho to lift Skyward up out of the crater and throw him with visibly immense force. Not one to cause more harm than was already done, Zachary uses a single hand, palming the man and halting his momentum the moment it touched his fingertips. Righting the man upward, the injured Pro limped and attempted to keep his balance, butbut ultimately fell to his knees. Just as he was returning his attention to the Villain, he saw him bolt for the exit of the once-there-store-front. "STOP!" He cried out, but knew he might be too late if the man was as fast as he showcased earlier. Kaede entered the ruined storefront and beheld the destruction left behind. Flickering lights added a foreboding sense of danger to the whole affair, sending a chill down her spine. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she reached into her pocket, expecting to find a vial of iron sand within. However, her hand found nothing but her phone. “Looks like I’m doing this the hard way.” she said to herself with a bitter tone, annoyed she had forgotten to arm herself properly before leaving home. Of course, she hadn’t thought she’d be in a fight then either. She continued to mentally berate herself for being so unprepared as she walked further into the chaotic mess. She broke out of her distracted mindset when the sound of someone screaming about not liking new problems followed by an explosion in the distance caught her attention. Looking ahead, she saw a rather tall figure making for the exit and the glimpses she managed to get between flickers of the overhead lighting scared her. A mix between man and machine, something wholly inhuman. Even the features of the man, while there, consisted of mechanical replacements, lending the figure a more frightening air. No sign of the guy with a sword either, leaving her to wonder if he had been injured by the villain. But before she could worry about him, she had to worry about herself and the man coming right for her. “S-STOP!” she shouted in a panicked voice, a far cry from the intimidating tone she intended as she held up her free hand. “I’m authorized to use force if you don't!” she announced, hoping it would be a deterrent. To emphasize her point, she let her Quirk fully show itself, sending arcs of blue-hued electricity surging around her body, pulling her hand out of her pocket so she didn’t accidentally damage her phone with an errant shock. The mechanical nightmare of a villain didn't waver. Her shout had all but delayed him for a second, having not expected any other Pros within the area. When his feet skid to a metal on pavement halt, in the shower of sparks that flew about from the light of the outside crossing flickering indoors, his plated skin patchworked past his face of a mixture of copper, bronze and platinum all throughout any surface that resembled flesh. In between the recesses of his epidermal coating were tubes of fluids that resembled veins and criss-cross patterns of emerald that could be constrewed as data chip circuitry. He was lanky, but standing at full height to the girl, he was looming over her at nearly six feet in height and full of musculature frame of metal and replacements for organic material. "Electricity Quirk?" He sneered, his wrinkled folds of metal curled to show a vicious snarl across his crudely put together face. "How unfortunate I don't have time to waste on someone so small as you!". His eyes glowed a crimson hue as he made a gagging sound before throwing his mouth forward; firing the ripcord tongue with its razor edge primed to pierce her left eye out the other side of her skull. Seeing the man in full now that he had gotten closer, Kaede’s sense of unease grew stronger. What she had thought had some semblance of humanity clearly had none whatsoever. Everything she could see was metal. Much to her annoyance, all the metal she could see was barely magnetic, if at all. While she could still fight knowing that, the deck was stacked against her even just a bit. When the man stopped in front of her, she restrained the surging aura of her quirk and waited for a moment. Before she could speak or act, the man was already on the offensive, spitting what looked like a razor-edged tongue from his mouth. She instinctively raised a magnetic barrier up between them, intent on pulling the tongue off-course. However, it was too fast and she couldn’t increase the strength of her magnetic field at the speed needed. It was only by the skin of her teeth that she could step to the right fast enough to avoid losing her eye, even with her defenses. The appendage lightly nicked the side of her face, leaving a shallow and narrow cut. She let out a hiss of pain, the feeling comparable to a bad papercut. She grabbed the corded tongue analogue before the man could retract it and channeled her quirk along it, sending a high-voltage current running along the length to try and shock her aggressor into submission. “Don’t you look down on me!” she yelled. The mechanized monster thought he saw it wrong. There was no way someone at this distance could avoid his tongue-grapnel so easily! Yet, as his mind raced at countermeasures, the sharpened end of his metal tongue pierced the sidewalk and embedded into something jagged underneath. A poor cover-up beneath? He didn't know the construction could foil him as easily as he revved the motors in his oral cavity to max capacity to pull it out to not hinder his movements. "Don't you look down on me!" If the man could speak, he'd comment snidely at how she's shorter than he was. His scowl of derision and motorized movements to strike her with one of his appendages shorted; it was at the processing sight of her synchronized actions with her words. Her smaller hand gripped the cord's knotted metal length and her body ignited in a slew of high voltage synapses, carrying the power of her quirk through a surge of transferred electricity straight into his mouth. Bypassing his currently resistant metal surface. "GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" He shrieked out in pain, sensory nodes overloading with power and circuitry implementing emergency procedures to bypass the flux of energy. It was only a handful of seconds, maybe ten, but after the flash of blue light and the scorch of plasma had cooked him around the face and over his resistant skeleton, he leaned back, twitching violently with a visibly limp posture. He stayed silent... ...till he stomped forward with a primed left hook to hit her across the jaw as blank whites for eyes stared at her with a bizarrely constrewed expression of disgust, horror, and rage. But, even as the fist struck, it'd feel like a light tap and the Quirk that was active around her just further crackled around the knuckles up the arm and around the more resilient surface of his body. "NNNNNGH! HHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW?!?!?!?!?!" He garbled out with feral exclamation. "You didn't run as far as I feared, Villain," The swordsman spoke from behind him in a daunting shadow from the building's opening. Still held in place by his own oral-cord and siezing up from the energy fluctuating his systems, the artificial antagonist could do nothing but scream as he twisted around to face Zachary. But to his genuine horror, a flash of light and impossible to trace -according to his malfunctioning ocular cameras, that is- velocity of a sword making a clean figure eight stroke over his body. In a click of the blade's hilt, it folded back up its container in the same moment as four clean fissures of cutting pressure severed his appendages clean from his torso. Clanking to the ground with a crackling thud, the twitching terrorist all but convulsed powerlessly on the ground, falling defeated at the feet of the Pro and the unexpected participant in his downfall. Looking up at the young woman, he gave her a forefinger salute at her with a warm smile as his blue eyes twinkled towards her amber orbs, "Thank you, young lady, for the assist. I fear if he was left unopposed I may not have caught up to him without damaging the city block. Convenient for us that he acted too hastily to the first thing to have the skill and spirit to contend with him. "But where are my manners?" He asked, continuing to speak in well-to-do japanese tinted finely with his Eastern-American accent. Gesturing to himself with a flat hand still holding his collapsed hilt of his now blade-less sword, he introduced himself as properly as he could. "I am Zachary Quincy, also known as the Pro Hero Sir Newton of America! It's a pleasure to meet a fellow heroine seeking to right the wrongs of ne'er do wells," He added in English, hoping she'd understand his intent. Pocketing the sword into the fold of his jean's right pocket, he held a hand out for her to shake, asking in her native tongue. "Might I know your name, young hero?" Kaede refused to let go of the mechanical tongue, even after producing enough of a shock that she was sure her opponent was done for. When the humanoid began to jerk and convulse, she figured she was done and made the mistake of lowering her guard, exhaling a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. In the same moment, a fist came right for her faster than she could dodge; even with her magnetic field pushing back, there was no time. She instinctively flinched just as contact was made. But instead of having her jaw broken by the metallic hand, it was nothing but a small tap. Wondering what had saved her, she tentatively opened her eyes, seeing the swordsman emerge from deeper within the shop’s shadowy depths. A momentary relief coursed through her, at least nothing had happened to him. But then faster than her eyes could properly track, she saw some force cut into the villain’s joints, separating them from his body. “W-what the hell….That was so fast I couldn’t even follow…” she muttered dumbly, realizing only after the fact the man she had come to save was behind that flurry of attacks. “But I didn’t do anything really…” she said quickly as she tried to interrupt his praises of her actions. She didn’t feel like she deserved it, all she did was stall for time in the face of a larger threat than herself, just what a hero was supposed to do. Even then, she was really just a distraction in reality. She gave Zachary a bemused expression as he gestured and introduced himself to her. Despite being weak when it came to all but the most basic English words, given the context she was able to follow what the man meant when he briefly switched to his native language. “M-my name is Arashi Kaede...Nice to meet you Newton-san.” she replied nervously, introducing herself as she shook his hand, using his chosen hero name out of respect for his position. “Your Japanese is pretty good for not being a native speaker.” she said, smiling politely. She turned to the defeated villain, still clutching the cord-like tongue just in case he tried anything. “At least he won’t be able to hurt anyone now.” "You might want to step back from him," Zachary advised, placing his hand on hers to urge her to let go. "You can't be certain if he's completely inert." In this advice, the distant wails of police sirens were heard. He breathed a sigh of relief as people began to clear out from the crime scene to give a wider berth. Even the green haired boy he met earlier was gone -along with his brief case he kept his sword in, much to his dismay-. He muttered something about thieves before some squad cars came with a containment truck. He was thankful the police were so quick to respond; how much damage had this villain done before being stopped here, he wondered? "Thanks for the help," A handsome young man stepped out of the car with a clean, angular shaven face with cross-shaped brows and steely black eyes. He wore a blue overcoat over his white collared black fatigued police uniform, the others getting out of their cars with weapons drawn and restraints in hand. As they were careful to approach the disarmed and malfunctioning villain, they ensured to place his limbs and person in a steel box that they bolted from the outside with nary but a handful of small holes to ensure ventilation was made. Reaching out his hand, he shook the American's hand with a grin, "I don't believe I've made the acquaintence, Mister-?" "Quincy," He replied with a smile, watching the steel cord pulled out from the concrete and coiled into the box with the rest of the villain's person before officially sealing it. "I'm a Pro Hero here on business from the States." "Ah, an American?" The Policeman inquired with a raised brow. "Well, I'm glad to see you helping our own-" "There was another inside. He's pretty banged up, but nothing life threatening," Sir Newton further embellished with a thumb over his shoulder towards the ruined shop. "I got the call from Skyward before losing contact," The man nodded with acknowledgement, looking over to see a pair of animal-headed officers rush into the ruined business to lend aid. "It's how we came prepared to keep Cyber Punk separated from anything he could cannibalize into his body." "Another weird name for such a bizarrely shaped villain." "I know, right? It's not like his mother named him that; if he ever had one," The Law Enforcer answered derisively. As if it just came to him, he introduced himself with a grin. "I'm sorry, I'm being incredibly rude. I'm Lieutenant Ninku, here from the Musutafu Eastern Prestinct," Greeting him fully, he looked over to the young girl and lowered his hand to shake hers. "Hello young lady. May I have your name and your Hero's License please?" It wasn’t until Zachary told her to let go that Kaede realized she was still holding onto the weapon in her grasp. She released her near-death grip on the cord and let it fall to the ground. In the distance, she heard the sirens of approaching police cars nearing the store. “Right on cue.” she thought, relieved that the hard part of taking down the villain was over and he could be handed over to the proper authorities. She barely heard him muttering something about a thief when they walked outside. She watched as they loaded the mechanized menace into a sealed container, along with his severed limbs. She reached into her other pocket and grabbed her wallet, pulling her license out before she was even asked. Even though she knew it was there, having it in her hand put her mind at ease; the last thing she needed was a scolding for forgetting it. Though she wasn’t fully paying attention to Zachary’s conversation at the moment, she did catch the name of her first villain capture. She recalled hearing the name at some point before, mostly in conjunction with technology-based robberies. No two crimes listing him had offered similar pictures to the man she had seen, which left her confused as to what his Quirk was or how he could change his appearance so rapidly. She shook hands with the lieutenant. “My name is Arashi Kaede.” she told him, handing over the license to prove her legal status, even if it was just a provisional one. "Thank you," The Lieutenant politely replied to her compliance with a smile. Looking it over, his eyes gave a brightened glint, his overall expression showing awe at the school she attended. "Ah! I beg your pardon, Miss Arashi! I didn't know you hailed from U.A.," Nodding to her he'd hand her license back over to her possession. "Tell me, have you ever met Class A? I was wondering if I could get an autograph for one of my nieces or nephews. They're big fans from their time in the Sports Festival!" "Excuse me for bringing this up," Zachary raised a hand, earning a look from the policeman as he looked a bit more seriously between the pair. "I'm actually on official leave from my duties from the States. If I could steal Miss Kaede's time, she can perhaps be better in serving my overall mission; maybe at a later time getting you such descriptive signatures you wish for your extended family?" "Ah, of course," He nodded to the others, bowing to them in apology. "That said, I do have to secure the crime scene and tally up evidence. Duty calls, after all. Nice talking to you, Miss Kaede, and enjoy your stay in Mustutafu, Mr. Quincy." Turning away, he dutifully strode into the ranks of his men and began to issue out clear, concise orders to the rest of his men without ever dropping his upbeat tone. It was something to admire from Zachary's point of view; but he quickly turned to Kade, looking at her with a serious glint in his eyes, "Miss Arashi, do you have plans for the rest of the day? I wish to discuss something important with you." Kaede hated how much attention class A was getting, especially since the sports festival. Sure, they won most of the events single-handedly, even taking the top spots overall, leaving every other first year class to scramble over the lower places. In fact, more often than not, that particular group had a long-running spree of bad luck that pushed them to rise to the occasion and excel, leaving the rest of the school in the dust. The months that followed the festival proved it, there was something about that class that seemed to draw nothing but trouble. As a joke, the rest of the first years declared them the main characters of an anime, which was a rather comedic explanation, but it was a good enough one that the humorous rumor spread like wildfire through the whole school. “I guess I can try to talk to them.” she told the officer as she accepted her license back, sticking it into her wallet. After Lieutenant Ninku walked away, Zachary turned to her and asked if she had plans. “I’m free for the whole day. Just as long as I get home before it gets too dark.” she replied. For once, living virtually alone came in handy she realized. “Besides, you really saved me back there. I...the least I can do is repay you by helping you with what brought you here.” In the back of her mind, she wondered what a Pro Hero would want with her at the moment, least of all right then. "To be fair, had you not have stepped in, I might have caused more damage catching him than if you had done nothing," He laughed nervously, looking almost gravely over his expression to implicate he might have done so. Clearing his throat with a raised hand, he used his other hand to gesticulate his explanation. "See, I've come to Japan -specifically UA- to look for a Protégé! A Sidekick, to be exact, and having been a recognized Pro for the past several years I sought to go to one of the most prestigious schools in the world that have garnered reputable and virtuous heroes. I could have searched locally but, back where I am from, most of the years' longer veterans get first pick as far as any of them are concerned. "So, understandably, I would've went to a place where us American Pros are more fantasy than recognizable and see if anyone could be infatuated by the allure of a foreign Hero. I'd have sought out the most promising candidates, interviewed them and then make offers," He extrapolated, grinning with an air of excitement. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he looked down with an infectious smile as his eyes practically glowed in meeting hers. "But, I think I can cut to the chase. The bravery and tenacity of which you stuck to your guns, even facing such a fearsome looking villain was outstanding. It is the kind of guts I'm looking in my own future partner; so how about it? "Do you want to walk the path of the Chivalrous, Kaede Arashi?!" The young electromagnetic-gifted girl listened as Zachary explained what brought him so far from home. He was looking for someone to work for him as a sidekick, and that search brought him all the way to Japan, which wasn’t really a surprise to her when she thought about it The idea of having sidekicks from UA was an alluring prospect to heroes the world over after all. She couldn’t help but crack a smile at how emotive the Pro Hero was being as he explained the situation. And then the man asked if she would be his sidekick, leaving her stunned. “W-wait, you really want me to…” she started to say quietly, realizing this was her chance to advance just another step towards her goals. It was almost too good to be true to her. But then she saw how serious Zachary was. This was no joke, she was really being given an offer to advance her career. “I may not know what the path of the chivalrous is, but if you’d really want me to be your sidekick, I’d be honored to.” she replied, trying to keep herself serious but it was clear from her expression of joy that she was more than elated to take on the role. “So I guess from now on, we’re partners, right?” she asked happily, smiling warmly. "You will learn in time," He replied, now smiling with even further enhanced excitement. "Though this is wonderful news! Partners we will be, once you get permission from the proper authorities. I was told when I left I'd have to make sure my would-be sidekick had Above-Average Academics -which infers that you're intelligent enough to be adaptable and can speak English fairly well-, get notice from the leading staff of UA, and permission to come with me from your parents or guardians in charge of your care. "Do you think we can manage those, or are there any particular things I should be made aware of?" He added lastly, inwardly preparing for some form of arduous task meant to invoke confidence in his presence. The last condition made Kaede’s eager smile falter. “That last one might be a problem…” she said, a bitter note to her voice as she looked down at the ground. She had relatively good grades and was well-liked by her teachers, so those two conditions would be simple enough, but the idea of needing to have permission from a guardian was likely much harder given her nearly non-existent relationship with her father. She was so close to advancing her dream but now she felt she was facing a roadblock, the same roadblock she faced all her life. “Can’t we just, I don’t know…not get him involved?” she asked hopefully, looking up at Zachary. “Susano'o and I aren’t exactly close.” Zachary's eyes widened with realization of what she spoke of. It was true that Susano'o, the Storm Guardian, was the epitome of solitude and singular motivation. Whether you asked the common people on social media or read news headlines, he had a very stand-offish appearance and attitude. It wasn't downright rude and vulgar like the #2 Hero of Japan, Endeavor, but it certainly wasn't the most appealing light for the #5 Hero. The fact he wasn't close to his family wasn't really news...but it was certainly disheartening to see an elated Kade become sullen at him mentioning her estranged parent. But, that's when a bulb lit behind his own eyes. Grinning broadly, the blonde haired man bent down and looked her in the eyes as he raised his hand up to whisper to her as if telling her a secret, "Hey, how about I take you to him right now? He's only thirty kilometers away, give or take, right?" Kaede didn’t know what to think at first when Zachary offered to take her to talk to Susano’o and clear up the matter of her becoming a sidekick. The mere idea of going to see her father right then was an intimidating prospect. In the past month, they barely spent more than a handful of hours together, most of which were spent discussing how school was going and other serious topics about her future and her plans. It was stifling to be forced to figure out her life when she was supposed to be enjoying her youth while it lasted. “You can’t be serious...You want to go, right now?” she asked, trying to muster the nerve to even go along with the proposed plan. “I guess the only way we can know is if we go, right? But, the subway’s gonna be very crowded by now… Smiling cheekily, Sir Newton waggled his eyebrows while shaking a finger back to back, "Uh-uh, we're not taking the subway! We're going by a far more...direct...form of travel." Without even waiting to explain himself, Zachary bent down and swept Kaede off her feet -an easy thing to do, given her shorter, slight build- and picked her up under the knees and around her shoulders. In his arms bridal style, he smiled at her and whispered a chaste, "Get a load of this!" Bending his knees, he'd bend the world with him as space felt still and the air quieted down to a hush. The creases of his jeans crackled, the hood on his back swished and his hair bristled. Then, in an instant, he leaped forward. No, not just forward; up and away from the shopping district they were just in, and rising higher and higher with every passing blink of the eye! Throttling up towards a building, the world slowed with the pair before he'd rap his feet along its surface and then propel himself up its side like a rocket. Wasting not a single gesture with every burst of momentum, the Pro Hero maneuvered along surface of streets and buildings -infrastructure growing larger and more corporate in design the farther they flew- till they were in the heart of Tokyo. The rushing feeling of adrenaline surged through Zachary as he was all but the brightest of smiles and glittering of blues in his eyes, his blonde hair waving within the glint of the Sun's glare from overhead. In the middle of a slow arch in the air, thanks to his Quirk the sensation was akin to gliding, he turned to look at her with a playful grin, "This is great, isn't it?! Try looking for your father now, and see if you can spot a place that looks like where he'd be!" “H-hey, just what do you think you’re doing?!” Kaede shouted in protest as she was picked up, though Zachary didn’t seem to pay her any mind before leaping straight into the air. The girl panicked and wrapped her hands around his neck. It was one thing to defy gravity with her own Quirk, but at that moment, at the height and speed they were moving, it was completely different. Every few seconds, she felt the acceleration of another kick-off, sending them speeding off once again, throwing her senses into a tailspin. She had to close her eyes to stop herself from getting nauseous as everything blurred around them. Finally, things began to slow and she felt comfortable enough to open her eyes and peer at the cityscape below and into the distance. In no time at all, they managed to reach Tokyo proper, leaving the familiarity of Musutafu for the sprawling metropolis of the capital. She had to guess that it was no more than a handful of minutes since they started travelling. Not far from where they were gliding, she could see the building she knew all too well. A giant Tesla coil-shaped construct, humming with electricity that surged up and down guide wires to the bulb on the apex of the building. Such a vibrant lightshow would normally have been costly to outfit, but to one of the most powerful lightning Quirk users, it was practically free. “You see that big, gaudy-looking lightning rod?” Kaede asked, pointing to it. “That’s the place we need to go to.” The Storm God's Palace Zachary felt the hair's on his body rise up at just the sight of it. Electricity pulsed in a constant thrum, up and down, thoroughly powering and enhancing all faculties within its magnanimous structure. Easily one of the flashiest and tallest buildings in all of Tokyo, it was a marvel just for ongoing tourists, even if they weren't permitted to enter inside. An excited smile spread across his face as he nervously looks back at Kaede as he altered his momentum during their fall, correcting it just enough to softly impact the side of a building... ...before rocketing straight towards the impenending headquarters of her father! "Here we," He said amidst the rushing wind of high velocity their bodies were maneuvering. It looked alarming from the first time perspective of careening across the air like a bullet fired from a gun; a rail gun, more likely. But, in the radical deceleration, all the inertia was robbed and the sickening feeling -or rather the lethal drawback of slowing high amounts of g's of force- was nullified as the pair gently skid across the pavement right in front of the brightly flashing skyscraper. "Are. "I hope that form of travel wasn't too rattling for a first-time passenger of the Newton Express," Zachary humorously apologized, setting Kaede down so she could stand next to him as opposed to being carried into her father's place of work. As soon as they touched down, Kaede tried to regain her balance. Comically shaking as she finally had solid ground under her, she turned to Zachary. “C-can we not do that again? I’d rather not have my stomach in my throat.” she told him a forced smile on her face. She felt queasy, as if she had been on the tallest roller coaster in the entire nation. She looked at the building with trepidation, feeling nervous. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the facts and walked through the door. The ground floor was a reception area for the company owned by the one and only Storm God Hero. Above them, a training hall made from three floors worth of space and then further still up were the offices proper. The carpet under their feet was black, the walls were white with dark yellow and blue lines. Sharp angles gave the walls a futuristic sort of look, fitting the technological nature of the building itself. One of the receptionists saw Kaede walk in and waved her over. “It’s been a while. I take it you’re here for the boss?” she asked when the girl approached. She looked over at Zachary and back to Kaede. “Um...I don’t think he’d like it if you brought a man around though. Besides, aren’t you too young to start dating?” she teased, earning a mortified look from the young girl. “It’s not like that! I...I need Susano’o to give me the okay to become a sidekick and Mr. Quincy here is offering to let me join him.” Kaede said as her face paled. “Oh...well, let me call him down for you..” the receptionist said, picking up the phone on her desk and dialing Susano’o’s extension. “You have a guest in the reception area wanting to talk to you.” she informed him when he picked up. A second later, the woman winced as a loud bang could be heard from the other side. “H-he’ll be right down.” she told the pair, looking more spooked than anything. The elevator whirred to life and slowly the display near the door to the shaft counted down until it read 1. The doors opened and out stepped a tall man with blonde hair. A scar ran down his face from above his right eye down to his cheek. His expression was locked into a perpetual scowl. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of black pants. “Who’s here that it’s so important I had to come down?” he asked in a gruff tone before he saw Kaede. His expression softened slightly. “You finally came to see me, huh? I don’t imagine you just decided to come looking for a friendly visit. So what is it? Bills? School problems?” he asked her. He was used to his daughter merely showing her face when she needed something and hid how irksome it was behind his stoic facade. Kaede, for her part, wasn’t thrilled to see her father either. He always assumed she was in need of something when she came around and admittedly this time she did need him for something. “Well….I need…your permission for something.” she told him. It was rare she ever actually asked for his approval with what she did but circumstances being what they were left her with no choice. “I need you to say I can become a sidekick!” Susano’o arched an eyebrow as a look of curiosity crossed his face. If Kaede was asking for his permission it had to be a big deal. But then she shouted that it was to become a sidekick and he instantly looked over at Zachary. “And I guess you’re the hero looking to hire her?” he asked. "Not from around here by the looks of it. Who exactly are you?" Clearing his throat, Zachary could feel the air turn icy the moment *the* Susano'o appeared. A tall man with broad shoulders and muscles barely contained by his muscle shirt and pants, he'd easily fit in with the rest of the burliest of Japan's Top Pros, not to mention America's. He felt a bit tense at the prospect of wedging himself in between an obviously distant father and daughter relationship, but he felt it was unavoidable, given the bureaucracy of needing his permission. "I am Sir Newton of the Vigils, out from the United States of America," Zachary introduced himself, title first, to help build an impression as he stretched out his hand to greet the intimidating wall of stoicism and electricity. "Zachary Quincy is my name, and yes, I'd like to form a partnership with your daughter." That he wanted her to work for him, then she must have done something special to catch his attention. But more than that, he knew how stubborn the girl was. She wouldn’t back down from this, no matter what he offered her to reconsider her options. Like any father, he was hesitant to let his child go off into the wider world regardless of what bad blood existed between them. And yet still, there was the fact she would take any showing of concern as forced. Admittedly, he wasn’t always the best parent, pawning her off on friends every time a criminal acted up, so he wasn’t going to deny he had no right to dismiss her ambitions. He shook Zachary’s offered hand. “And I am Kuwabara Arashi, better known as Susano’o. If my daughter truly wants to go, then you two have my permission.” she said, glancing over at Kaede. “I won’t tell you how to live your life, and I can’t exactly say I wasn’t prepared for this to happen…” Before he could continue whatever he was going to say, Kaede turned away. “Don’t. Don’t start acting like my father now. I don’t need your advice and I don’t need you.” she told him, her voice cracking a bit as she buried the anger and frustration boiling up. She then stormed out of the building, leaving her father and mentor behind. A nearby vent rattled as her Quirk momentarily activated in her emotional state. Susano’o briefly looked hurt by her reaction. “Guess I deserved that.” he said with a sigh. “Do me a favor and take care of her. As one hero to another.” Zachary opened his mouth to say something but quickly found nothing coming out of it. All he could do was helplessly watch the exchange break down quicker than a building held up by melted support beams. Witnessing the pair coldly interact and then the child storming off, he couldn't suppress a wounded sigh. He had hoped she'd compose herself more professionally, if not for her own dignity's sake with her Pro Hero future partner watching the whole ordeal. Taking a moment to exchange a glance with Kaede as she walked away from the two, he heard a lamentful choice of words from the father. "Guess I deserved that." Turning to look apologetically, all he got was a stoic mask of seriousness from the #5 Pro Hero of Japan, his eyes looking straight into his and into his soul. His request to take care of her, not as her father, but as a hero to another spoke volumes of how truly proud he must have been to hear the news of his personal decision to recruit her as a sidekick. He just wished he had come under better circumstances and didn't potentially instigate a further fissure in the divide between them. "If I may speak boldly, Arashi-san," He spoke in as clear of Japanese as he could, his face now bearing its own mask of professionalism he wore when he took matters of such with consideration. "I'd have done so without hesitation, nor to do it as a favor to even fellow colleagues of heroism and courage. I would've preferred that you asked as a father to look after your daughter; as someone who wishes to honor his own parents, that matters to me more than the personal considerations of Pros of East or West." Susano’o gave Zachary an expression that was a mix of pleading and hopefulness. “If that’s the case, you have my thanks. If I warned her to be careful, she’d be as reckless as possible just to spite me.” he said as he recomposed himself, once more becoming the stoic storm he was known to be. He couldn’t let the world see even a single crack in his facade as a hero. Even when the cracks were there from how his daughter lashed out at him, he had to hide it all. “If you’ll excuse me, I have paperwork to finish, hopefully before my next job. The worst part of being a hero really.” he joked in a vain attempt to lighten the mood. He walked back to the elevator and disappeared behind the heavy doors as they closed. The secretary let out a pent up sigh. “Always the same with the two of them.” she said, her tone resigned as if she was used to seeing the father and daughter pair going at each other. Zachary shook his head, scratching his head with a mirthful smile as he walked away from the Pro. Making his way past the secretary, he couldn't help but hear her lamentful statement. This was likely the status quos for the parent and child, as it has been for quite some time. Zachary had always had a decent relationship with his own family regardless of striking differences of life choices, beliefs and ideology. But seeing someone resigned to being this way and neither side wanting to make the improvement was a bitter pill to swallow. "I guess this is what I get for asking the first impressionable girl I see as hero material without knowing her life story," He spoke to himself in English, scratching his cheek nervously as he jogged up to catch up to Kaede. "Well, Mother Quincy never raised a quitter; time to go as far as this road will take me, no matter the hardship!" Preparations For A New Adventure "Ah! This is wonderful news! Yes, wonderful news indeed!" Principal Nezu -affectionately referred to as just 'Mr. Principal' by his peers and students-, said in his melodious, jubilant voice. The rare case of an animal who inherited a Quirk, the mouse-bear-looking head of U.A. had a pleasing but long-winded demeanor that was the bane of many of his adult colleagues. But as he grandly explained how much of a breakthrough opportunity this was, All the while, Zachary couldn't help but gawk at the sight of the U.A. principal being...an animal! Clearing his throat, he eventually reinserted himself into the conversation as he tried to match the enthusiasm of the snow-furred creature's, "Yes! I too am also excited for this marvelous merger of East and West. With Kaede's help, we can form perhaps an even greater bond between our two great nations and save more lives than ever before!" "I assume you got permission from her parents?" He inquired with a smile. "We have just spoken to Arashi-san earlier this weekend, actually," Zachary remarked, recalling that it actually took a phone call interview to be set up the following day -instead of during the week like he thought- for them to set this meeting up. "He was actually quite pleased to learn of this development for his daughter. There wasn't any faults or complaints, simply that she keep up on her academics with U.A. long distance while she receives tutelage from yours truly." "Mhm, I see," Nezu nodded with acknowledgement. "So this will be an internship that won't make her a fully fledged Sidekick until she's graduated, yes?" "In the bureaucratic sense, yes," He explained with a more neutral demeanor, waving his hands for emphasis. "Kaede's acquisition of her Hero's License will make it easier for me to help see to it that her work in the field adds to her curriculum. As you know, public service helps enhance her social image and throttle her status into the people's eyes. Optimistically, I'd like her to be finished with her academics in the next two years instead of three, if only due to her work in association with me and my other peers." "We'll see how her progress goes in the next couple semesters," The white-furred sentient folded some paperwork together, rapping it on the desk and shoving it forward towards Kaede. "Arashi-chan, make sure you get these signed and handed over by tomorrow. Feel free to also say your official goodbyes to the rest of your classmates and teachers before you leave. I'm sure Quincy-san will wish to have you both embark back to America as quickly as possible to start your new life as his sidekick-in-training." Category:High Voltage! An MHA Roleplay! Category:Firegod00 Category:Mangetsu20 Category:Zachary Quincy Category:Kaede Arashi Category:Pro Heroes